Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Position in NetEase, Inc. $NTES

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES) by 7.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 543,409 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 43,493 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in NetEase were worth $69,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in NetEase by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 67,211 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,250,000 after acquiring an additional 12,173 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in NetEase by 64.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 581,720 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,118,000 after buying an additional 227,433 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in NetEase by 111.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,325,317 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $148,356,000 after buying an additional 698,318 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in shares of NetEase by 50.7% in the first quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 708,114 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,266,000 after acquiring an additional 238,386 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of NetEase by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 48,068 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 25,634 shares in the last quarter. 11.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NTES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NetEase from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of NetEase in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered NetEase from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $169.00 target price on NetEase in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of NetEase in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NetEase has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.00.

NetEase Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:NTES opened at $122.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $78.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.73. NetEase, Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.06 and a twelve month high of $159.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.55.

NetEase Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. NetEase’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.53%.

Insider Activity

In other NetEase news, General Counsel Paul William Boltz, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.30, for a total transaction of $1,283,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 12,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,568,210.90. This trade represents a 45.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 54.70% of the company’s stock.

NetEase Company Profile

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Hangzhou that develops and operates Internet services and products. Founded in 1997 by William Ding (Ding Lei), the company has grown from an early web portal and e-mail provider into a diversified online services group. William Ding has served as the company’s founder and long-time leader, guiding its expansion into games, digital content and consumer services.

The company’s primary business is interactive entertainment: NetEase Games designs, develops and publishes PC and mobile games for domestic and international audiences, offering a mix of self-developed franchises and titles published under licensing and strategic partnerships.